You're taking me back to the gulf with that one, Amate. You'd go out for speckled trout and redfish and end with a stringer of gafftops and hardheads. The irony is that sea cats are delicious, but they're so slimy that by the time you've cleaned them, even if you've avoided getting finned, you are no longer in the mood for catfish.

Your work is always beautiful and distinctive. I need a bigger house so I can adopt more Amate art.

This next guy was originally going to be one of those PNG ancestor figures with the hoodoo designs painted on. When I got to this point, I stopped to look him over for a couple of days. I decided I’m just going to call him Rodney. He is 7 inches tall.
Thanks for the laughs Rodney …much respect!

Thanks Mike – I believe the vast majority of us feed off each other for inspiration. Someday, I hope to attempt something similar to your Island Girl or Phygia. I already have an idea for an anatomy piece but still have not found the main ingredient… patience. Until then, I’ll keep doing my caricatures.

Thanks AM. I’ve made a couple of attempts trying to paint the designs but was always disappointed with my results. I just may try to do some painting on one of my scrap carvings. Sometimes I use them for practice. This next marq is a good example. I’ve had this small carving from when I was first attempting to learn the marquesas style. It was a pretty unremarqable carve but somehow, I could not bring myself to throw him away. Recently, I spent a couple hours tricking him out by carving some designs on his body. I’m not saying that carving the designs transformed him into a good carving. He’s still gritty, rough and chubby. He has now served his purpose as a learning tool for the second time.

Other than the entertainment I got from carving the designs, all I accomplished was to renew my love for this style and start a couple more. I’ve made several with the flat top so these new ones will have a round head. Here goes.

I like this guy.
And your last one. Nice detail
They just get better.
Your bench looks like it'll hold them good
with out breaking them.
I often clamp them so hard I break them.
Mostly towards the end of the carve.

Will – that JawHorse will exert a lot of pressure. I’ve only cracked or broken 3 so far. Some people never learn Conga – that last marq was about 15 inches tall even though he looks smaller in the photo. The previous marq with the designs is just over 7”. I guess I’ve got at least a couple dozen or so in the 15 inch and under category. Some are traditional tiki like that 7”marq and some are my character pieces which are closer to folk art.
This 9”x 20” plank was inspired by an image from a classic 1950’s movie. The movie, in turn, was inspired by a classic 1850’s novel. I hope to carve a character from that novel/movie which is associated with this image. There is a tiki connection with this character.
I will start him as soon as I find the right piece of wood for the project.

Thanks for looking in Clarita. Happy New Year to you and all TCers.
We had a couple of warm days here so I started some new projects for 2014.
A couple of guys posted some mermaids recently so I guess I’ll give it a go.

I know I will eventually get bored by carving the Marquesas style but not yet. Until then…started a couple more.

It seems like even my pelicans are rough and chubby.

He doesn’t look anything like the model…I’ll try to smooth things out before I call him finished.